Additionally, one-way translations are available from English to Hindi and Thai.

Google's picture mode translation, which requires a snapshot of text, can operate in 37 languages.

The California group said the new features come from extensive research to develop so-called "convolutional neural networks," or using artificial intelligence to recognize letters and words and filter out backgrounds.

"We've still got lots of work to do," said product leader Barak Turovsky.

"More than half of the content on the Internet is in English, but only around 20 percent of the world's population speaks English. Today's updates knock down a few more language barriers, helping you communicate better and get the information you need," he said.